We have quite a few news and topics we want to talk about, let’s dive in.
First things first: the new version for the demo (2.1) is live. If you’re subscribed, you got the email to access the new demo. And if you aren’t, sign up to download the demo.
Bug Fixing
There were just a few bugs reported – more or less, all about the same few features.
This made us very happy: it means that the game is getting more and more polished.
Among the few bugs mentioned, there were a few bugs about the ladders. They seem fixed now and we have the impression that the ladders are getting smoother. Of course, the final verdict is up to you, so we look forward to hear your opinion about those!
Another bug worth mentioning was a rare one that locked the player in the Tutorial Map, which was especially unpleasant. Now that’s fixed.
Apart from the bugs that you players reported, we had a few newcomers due to our recent migration from Unreal Engine 5.0 to 5.4.
We had to upgrade to Unreal 5.4 soon or later because it introduced a feature that’s crucial for the animation of the more complex robots and mutants that we want to bring to life inside the game. But this isn’t a thing that we are going to use soon… so I wanted to wait for the upgrade.
This was true till Raffaele, the other developer on the team, after testing a feature, said that it was going to be a lot smoother in the version 5.4. So here we are.
The new bugs created by the new engine version were few and small. Like for example, NPC walking started to walk in circle instead of carrying on their usual behaviour.
Anyway, it seems like we fixed all of those too.
Material Disappearance
To improve the navigation we created an auto-zooming camera that automatically zoomed in when an object was between the camera and your character.
As discussed in a previous post, we tought this was going to be the best solution for BioSynth for a variety of reasons.
Well, according to players, that feature was a pain.
This meant that we had to go back to other solution for the navigability problem: making objects between the camera and the active character disappear.
Raffaele did a hell of a job on this feature and I think that finally we are in a good spot as for the navigation.
The active character – be your hero, a companion or the enemy during its turn – will always be visible because all the objects covering it will turn invisible around the character. And of course, you can click through that invisible radius.
Potentially you could navigate all the levels without ever rotating the camera… even tought that isn’t ideal.
New Features: Moving Camera, Control Mapping and Minimap Compass
Previously you could move the camera only while in combat. Now you can always move the camera by using the arrow keys on your keyboard – or any other key that you want to set… more about this a few lines below.
And with the press of a button you can go back to the default camera view.
Another feature: wow you can change the control keys, so you can play in way that you find the most comfortable.
And we also added a compass to the minimap to improve your navigation.
Coming Soon – Quick Slots
Along the other things, we’ve started working on the “quick slots”. These are items that you can equip to grant your characters some additional abilities.
The most basic example: some pills to recover HP.
Of course, these items aren’t limited to defense, but they can be quite useful offense tools. Like, for example the electrostatic bomb shown below. Or maybe some drugs to enhance your offensive abilities…
The items mentioned above are consumables, so you can use the item just once. But there are also quick slots that you can use multiple times.
These items aren’t in the demo yet, but we’re working towards adding them.
What’s Next
We’ll be working on fixing the bugs reported for this Demo 2.1.
After fixing these and releasing the updated demo, it’ll be time for us to move towards the next goals. We have to build some cool things that I can’t anticipate… but once you see the results, you’ll love BioSynth even more!
One last thing before closing: don’t forget to follow the Kickstarter 🙂
See you soon!
